Top Stories

A senior director in the capital markets funding team at a German agency has left to join UniCredit’s FIG team in Munich, GlobalCapital understands.

Participants in the financial institutions bond market were bewildered to see Coventry Building Society paying up to issue a new additional tier one and tender for an old one this week. But the transaction gave other issuers a window into how European rules on bank capital may be applied in practice — something that could pave the way for new and more liberal approaches to calling and refinancing AT1s, writes Tyler Davies.

Dutch insurer Aegon surfaced in the euro market on Thursday to sell a restricted tier one deal that investors had been expecting for the best part of the past two years.

Issuance of Italian bank debt in 2019 has nearly caught up with last year’s running total. Banca Popolare di Sondrio this week followed Mediobanca and UniCredit into the market to cap off a big week of supply by the nation’s lenders. The run could yet extend further, with UBI Banca gearing up for a debut green bond.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has fined Fitch for conflicts of interest, relating to ratings given to entities where French billionaire businessman Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière sat on the board. The French businessman indirectly owned a stake in the ratings agency.

A head of syndicate for SSA, MTNs, and short term markets has left his employer of 15 years to enrol in a fintech course at Oxford University.

The European Financial Stability Facility will probably issue in the 10 to 20 year part of the curve for its first benchmark of the second quarter, according to SSA bankers.

Caixa Económica Montepio Geral opened books for its first public tier two capital issue on Wednesday, announcing eye-catching price thoughts of 10.5% area.

Moody’s has decided not to give any equity credit to the £3.44bn of mandatorily convertible bonds issued by Vodafone on March 5. That means the UK mobile phone company has not yet achieved the total equity credit it had hoped to get from its financings for its Unitymedia acquisition. Vodafone announced on Tuesday March 26 a new hybrid capital issue which will gain it some more equity credit (see separate story).

Equity bankers expected clarity about Brexit by this week, for better or worse, and had hoped to start work again on UK IPO projects. But further delays and political uncertainty have swept these deals back to the sidelines.

Mersen, a French technology manufacturer, will not accept bids from UK-based lenders for its new Schuldschein “in anticipation of a potential Brexit”. Three bankers away from the transaction said they have also discussed excluding UK lenders with other borrowers.

Coventry Building Society was set on Tuesday to become the first ever issuer to simultaneously sell new additional tier one notes and tender for outstanding bonds, in an approach that could soon be followed by other European financial institutions. The transaction was facilitated by TwentyFour Asset Management, which is a ‘significant investor’ in both the firm’s new and old AT1s.